His substitute mate.

Chapter four

Do you intend keeping that over your face forever?" Dom asked nonchalantly.

"Huh?" Sheena muttered

It took a minute for her to realize he was talking to her as he was busy typing on his laptop and had barely spared her a glance.

She didn't know how or what to say in reply. This was the first time he had spoken to her since the incident with the priest. Heck, this was the first time they would be together alone and talk aside from the occasional times they exchanged pleasantries whenever Elena brought him over or invited her to join them on their outings.

Slowly and rather too cautiously, she took off the veil and dropped it beside her on the seat of the limo.

He was sitted directly opposite her and when she glanced up, she caught him staring at her. His gaze focused on her make up free face.

"Why are you staring?" She asked shyly. She felt self conscious and could barely keep her eyes on his.

"I know the circumstances of our marriage was quite....." He paused, searching for a word. "....'unappealing'..." He offered, "....but couldn't you have at least tried to look more appealing, especially considering today is your wedding day?"

She winced at the word 'unappealing', her face turning red.

Not that he deemed her unappealing.

On the contrary, he thought she was beautiful, only that her beauty paled in comparison to 'his Elena'. While she had on a black curly wig to look like Elena for the wedding, she was naturally a brunette. She had hazel eyes compared to the deep blue of Elena's. She had a well rounded, freckles-free baby face with what he thought were unusually thick eye brows arched perfectly above her eyes, whereas, Elena had a more angular face with slightly high cheekbones and longer lashes. The only similarities they shared were their olive skin and height - both stood at 5'5 - which made it easy for her to impersonate Elena at the wedding.

He noted her wedding gown - which he thought was absolutely stunning - lying crumpled in a heap at her feet. He tried to recall if he had ever seen her dressed in anything other than her usual baggy jeans with an equally big sweatshirt, but couldn't. He couldn't tell her size or shape, but he assumed she was petite and shapeless, hence the choice of clothing.

Turning his gaze back to her, she looked so vulnerable and innocent pressed at the edge of the car seat almost like she was trying to phase into the door or worse, planning to open it and jump out.

He suddenly felt sorry for her.

"Are you cold?" He asked. "Do you need me to turn down the Air conditioning?"

She hesitated before replying.

" No. I'm fine."

He nodded and went back to typing on his laptop, giving way to a brief moment of awkward silence.

"Do you know why Elena ran away?" Sheena broke the silence. Her voice barely a whisper.

He paused and raised his head to look at her. He was a bit taken aback by her abrupt question.

"What did you say?" He asked, pretending not to have heard her.

"Do you know why Elena ran away?" She repeated. Her voice louder this time.

"What makes you think she ran away?" He arched a brow at her.

"I know Elena very well, she isn't one to run away on her wedding day. She had meticulously and elaborately planned for the wedding. And I know she was super excited about it and would never have missed it for anything in the world." Sheena confidently answered.

"Plus most of her things were missing from the house too. Which means she must have packed and carried them along with her." She added.

Dom tried successfully to hide a smirk. He was both surprised and impressed by her quick reasoning and sudden boldness. He searched through his mind for an appropriate answer but could only come up with;

"Ok, that makes sense." Before turning his attention back to his laptop.

"You met with her last night, didn't you?" Sheena quizzed further.

" Yes." He answered absent mindedly. His face still buried on his laptop screen as he continued typing.

"And you both were together the entire night?"

" No."

"Ok. But did she tell you about the bachelorette party we had planned for her?"

" Yes."

" Did she tell you anything else?

"No."

"Did she seem different to you, like something was bothering her?"

" No."

" Arrgghh!!!" Sheena groaned within herself. She was frustrated by his one word replies. "Doesn't he care about finding Elena?" She thought. "Or did he not love her?"

Refusing to give up, she decided to try again.

"Have you tried finding her?" She asked.

He seemed to pause for a second, like he was contemplating answering her question.

"Are you naturally so inquisitive or are you doing this to spite me" he retorted, his attention still on his laptop.

His response seemed to have shut her up as she let out an exasperated sigh, leaned back into her seat and gazed out the window.

A minute passed, and when he didn't hear a word from her, he glanced up at her to see her staring out the window, her lips in a defiant pout. She looked upset and........'cute'.

'why do I think she's cute' he frowned, shaking the thought out of his mind.

He was quite bemused at how quickly the shy, vulnerable little girl turned into an angry diva.

Sheena continued gazing out the window with a frown on her face, as the car sped through. She focused on the unusually tall trees - that seemed to be unending - flying past. Ever since they took a right turn on the coldharbour lane an hour ago, she had seen no other building or landscape other than this vast, long streak of Hyperion trees. She tried to recall if she had seen any other vehicle drive pass them, but couldn't.

Thoughts of Elena brought her mind back from her sightseeing. She turned her gaze to glance at the man who was supposed to be Elena's husband, 'her husband'.

His head was still buried in his laptop, frantically typing on the keys. He had picked up the laptop and started his typing spree the moment the car turned away from the many people waving and wishing them a happy married life back at the church.

He looked so handsome and manly in his white long sleeve shirt which hugged his body and biceps so tightly. He had the first two buttons on the shirt undone, and his tux, laid spread at the head of his seat.

Sheena kept shamelessly staring, unable to take her eyes off him, with many things going through her mind.

"Now it's your turn to stare, huh?." He asked with his head still bent down.

'how did he know I was staring when he didn't raise his head' she thought.

"What is it?" Dom asked, when she wasn't forthcoming with an answer to his rhetorical question.

"It's nothing." Sheena answered. "I'm only wondering why Elena would run away from marrying you." She continued. "I remember she sounded terrified when I spoke to her on the phone last night and I'm trying to figure out why. Perhaps you did something that scared her away. Maybe you cheated or you were abusive or.........."

" Enough!" Dom bellowed, stopping her from finishing her sentence. He looked enraged and had shifted from his seat towards her in a flash. He was crouched on his knees directly in front of her and she could have sworn she saw his deep green eyes turn fiery green like burning green fire. It made her recline into her seat, eyes closed, cowering in fear.

"....you have no right to say anything cos' you know absolutely nothing about Elena and I. You have no idea how much I love her. You have no idea the things I did and would have done for her! You have no idea the sacrifices I made to be with her!" He growled at her between clenched teeth.

"No one, absolutely no one can love Elena the way I do. And I can never love any other person the way I love her. This marriage of ours is an absolute sham. You're just a substitute and trust me when I say........."

Sheena was grateful for the interruption from the voice that blarred through speakers in the car. It was the driver telling them that they had arrived at the Wolf Manor. They both hadn't realised when the car turned into the parking lot and stopped.

She had been completely terrified at the angry sight of Dom and felt hurt by his words when he called their marriage a sham and confessed to being unable to love anyone else but Elena. She didn't know why she felt that way, but her heart broke, knowing she will never get the loving husband and family she had always dreamt about as a child.

She opened her eyes to peek at Dom, her heart throbbing.

He was seated back on his seat opposite her and looked to have regained his composure. He pressed the intercom beside him and said something into it.

"We're here." He muttered, turning to look at her.

" Welcome to your new home" he added with sarcasm.